Dr Jane Lydon - Researcher Profile

Jane Lydon

Address

Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies
Faculty of Arts, Clayton

Contact Details

Tel: +61 3 990 51658

Email: Jane.Lydon@monash.edu


Biography

Photos reveal new perspective on history

Using photographs to reconstruct Australia’s Indigenous and colonial history is revealing a new picture of the past. Historian Dr Jane Lydon says it is a story of varied cultural encounters across the country, which often challenges common views that Indigenous people were exploited by the camera. Jane’s collaboration with the descendants of the Aboriginal people who appear in historic photographs is making new links between the cultural experiences of the past and today’s society.

Jane’s project to assemble a systematic history of Aboriginal culture through photographs began in 2008, when she started examining images from Australian archives. This has since been extended to include images from European collections. The project has been funded to 2015 through a grant from the Australian Research Council.
She has already examined thousands of photographs, dating back to the 1840s. The images reveal a surprising level of cultural exchange rather than exploitation, both in the past and in the present. Members of Aboriginal communities are helping to provide context for the photographs and identifying the people featured. They also contribute an Indigenous perspective on the images.
Jane says it is significant that these communities do not always perceive their ancestors as “victims of the process”. Instead, many Aboriginal people have welcomed the photographs as an important social link to their communities.
The photos have allowed them to fill in historical gaps. “Rather than focusing on the political meaning, there is a much stronger emphasis on family. Many Aboriginal people talk about the photographs as healing,” she says.
Returning the photographs from European and Australian collections to Indigenous communities is a compelling aspect of the project for Jane. She says she is committed to “giving back” the information and cultural heritage contained within the images to Aboriginal people. This often involves identifying the people and places depicted.
“Looking at the European collections, some of the information and a lot of the context are lacking. In some cases these details were never known or have been lost.” 
She is challenged by some of the obstacles to her work, such as reconciling new developments in digital technology with the cultural protocols associated with displaying Aboriginal archives. However, she says cultural decision-making within Indigenous communities has also been helping to simplify the process of balancing complex Aboriginal traditions with rapid advances in digital technology. She says a traditional custom that prohibits viewing the deceased during a mourning period, which in some cases extends to photography, has often changed in modern communities.
A highlight of her research career has been winning the 2010 John Mulvaney Book Award for her book Fantastic Dreaming: The Archeology of an Aboriginal Mission (AltaMira 2009), which was awarded by the Australian Archeological Association.
Jane says she has always been fascinated by history. As a teenager she was determined to become an archaeologist, but her career path swerved towards Indigenous culture as she began her PhD. The change of direction has allowed her make history relevant in modern society. “I’m driven by our colonial past and cultural exchange between Indigenous people and settlers and how this continues to shape Australian society now.”

Keywords

colonial visual and material cultures, heritage, historical archeology, mission archeology

Qualifications

HISTORY/ ANTHROPOLOGY
Institution: Australian National University
Year awarded: 2001
HISTORY/ ARCHAEOLOGY
Institution: Australian National University
Year awarded: 1996
ARTS (HONOURS IN ARCHAEOLOGY)
Institution: University of Sydney
Year awarded: 1986

Publications

Books

Lydon, E.C.J., 2012, The Flash of Recognition: Photography and the Emergence of Indigenous Rights, New South Books, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Conor, E., Lydon, E. (eds), 2011, Double Take: Colonial Visual Cultures, Routledge, Australia.

Lydon, E., Rizvi, U. (eds), 2010, Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek California USA.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2009, Fantastic Dreaming: The Archaelogy of an Aboriginal Mission, AltaMira Press, Maryland, USA.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2005, Eye Contact: Photographing Indigenous Australians, Duke University Press, Durham NC.

Book Chapters

Lydon, E., 2010, "Fantastic dreaming": Ebenezer mission as Moravian utopia and Wotjobaluk responses, in Making Settler Colonial Space: Perspectives on Race, Place and Identity, eds Tracey Banivanua Mar and Penelope Edmonds, Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 218-238.

Lydon, E., 2010, A 'victory for our common humanity': ANZAC day, heritage and globalisation, in Reflections on ANZAC Day: From One Millenium to the Next, eds Ruth Rentschler and Anne-Marie Hede, Heidelberg Press, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 135-146.

Lydon, E., Rizvi, U., 2010, Addressing/redressing the past: restitution, repatriation, and ethics, in Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, eds Jane Lydon and Uzma Z. Rizvi, Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek California USA, pp. 241-244.

Lydon, E., Rizvi, U., 2010, Archaeological narratives of colonialism: Introductory comments, in Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, eds Jane Lydon and Uzma Z. Rizvi, Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek California USA, pp. 141-143.

Lydon, E., Rizvi, U., 2010, Colonial and postcolonial identities, in Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, eds Jane Lydon and Uzma Z. Rizvi, Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek California USA, pp. 323-325.

Rizvi, U., Lydon, E., 2010, Epilogue: postcolonialism and archaeology, in Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, eds Jane Lydon and Uzma Rizvi, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California, USA, pp. 495-503.

Lydon, E., Rizvi, U., 2010, Introduction: postcolonialism and archaeology, in Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, eds Jane Lydon and Uzma Rizvi, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California, USA, pp. 17-33.

Lydon, E., Rizvi, U., 2010, Strategies of practice: Implementing the postcolonial critique, in Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, eds Jane Lydon and Uzma Z. Rizvi, Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek California USA, pp. 401-404.

Lydon, E., Rizvi, U., 2010, The archaeological critique of colonization: Global trajectories, in Handbook of Postcolonial Archaeology, eds Jane Lydon and Uzma Z. Rizvi, Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek California USA, pp. 35-37.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2009, Young and Free: The Australian Past in a Global Future, in Cosmopolitan Archaeologies, eds Lynn Meskell, Duke University Press, London UK, pp. 28-47.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2008, Contested Landscapes - Rights to History, Rights to Place: Who Controls Archaeological Places?, in Handbook of Landscape Archaeology, eds Bruno David and Julian Thomas, Left Coast Press, walnut creek, CA, pp. 654-660.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2007, Telling Stories About the Past: Archaeology and Museum Interpretation, in Archaeology to Delight and Instruct: Active Learning in the University Classroom, eds H Burke and C Smith, One World Archaeology Series No. 49, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA, USA, pp. 241-244.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2006, Pacific encounters, or beyond the islands of history, in Historical Archaeology, eds Martin Hall and Stephen W Silliman, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford UK, pp. 293-312.

Ireland, T., Lydon, E.C.J., 2005, Introduction: Touchstones, in Object Lessons: Archaeology and Heritage in Australia, eds J Lydon and T Ireland, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 1-30.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2005, Men in black: the Blacktown Native Institution and the Origins of the stolen generation, in Object Lessons: Archaeology and Heritage in Australia, eds J Lydon and T Ireland, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 201-224.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2004, Archaeological heritage management in Australia: from professionalism to democratisation?, in Archaeology from Australia, eds Tim Murray, Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd, Kew Vic Australia, pp. 85-97.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2003, Seeing each other: the colonial vision in nineteenth-century Victoria, in Archaeologies of the British: Explorations of Identity in Great Britain and its Colonies 1600-1945, eds Susan Lawrence, Routledge, London UK, pp. 174-190.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2002, "This civilising experiment' :photography at Coranderrk Aboriginal Station during the 1860's", in After Captain Cook: The archaeology of the recent Indigenous past in Australia, eds R.Harrison and C.Williamson, Sydney University Archaeological Methods Series 8, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 59-72.

Journal Articles

Lydon, E.C.J., 2012, Bullets teeth and photographs: Recognising Indigenous Australians between the wars, History of Photography [P], vol 36, issue 3, Routledge, London, United Kingdom, pp. 275-287.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2012, Photography and the recognition of Indigenous Australians: Framing Aboriginal prisoners, Australian Historical Studies [P], vol 43, issue 2, Routledge, London, United Kingdom, pp. 210-232.

Conor, E., Lydon, E., 2011, Double take: Reappraising the colonial archive, Journal of Australian Studies [P], vol 35, issue 2, Routledge, UK, pp. 137-143.

Braithwaite, S., Gara, T., Lydon, E., 2011, From Moorundie to Buckingham Palace: images of "King" Tenberry and his son Warrulan, 1845-55, Journal of Australian Studies [P], vol 35, issue 2, Routledge, Australia, pp. 165-184.

Lydon, E., 2010, 'Behold the tears': photography as colonial witness, History of Photography [P], vol 34, issue 3, Routledge, UK, pp. 234-250.

Briggs, M., Lydon, E., Say, M., 2010, Collaborating: photographs of Koories in the State Library of Victoria, The La Trobe Journal [P], vol 85, issue 1, State Library of Victoria Foundation, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 106-124.

Lydon, E., Burns, A., 2010, Memories of the past, visions of the future: changing views of Ebenezer Mission, Victoria, Australia, International Journal of Historical Archaeology [P], vol 14, issue 1, Springer, USA, pp. 39-55.

Lydon, E., 2010, Return: the photographic archive and technologies of Indigenous memory, Photographies [P], vol 3, issue 2, Routledge, UK, pp. 173-187.

Lydon, E., Ash, J., 2010, The archaeology of missions in Australasia: introduction, International Journal of Historical Archaeology [P], vol 14, issue 1, Springer, United States, pp. 1-14.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2009, Imagining the Moravian Mission: space and surveillance at the former Ebenezer Mission, Victoria, Southeastern Australia, Historical Archaeology [P], vol 43, issue 3, Society for Historical Archaeology, Maryland USA, pp. 5-19.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2007, (Review) Gathering for God: George Brown, by Helen Bethea Gardner, Otago University Press, 2006, Australian Historical Studies, vol 38, issue 130, University of Melbourne, University of Melbourne, pp. 383-384.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2007, Pictures Bring Us Messages, History of Photography, vol 33, issue 1, Taylor and Frances Group, pp. 85-86.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2007, 'Women, colonialism, history: publishing on women's history in race and colonialism journals', Hecate - An Interdisciplinary journal of Women's Liberation, vol 33, issue 2, Hecate Press, University of Qld, pp. 164-177.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2005, 'Australian Idyll:Domesticating the Victorian landscape', Art Bulletin of Victoria, vol 45, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 18-25.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2005, Driving by: Visiting Australian colonial monuments, Journal of Social Archaeology, vol 5, issue 1, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks CA USA, pp. 108-134.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2005, 'Our sense of beauty': Visuality, space and gender on Victoria's aboriginal reserves, south-eastern Australia, History and Anthropology, vol 16, issue 2, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, Abingdon UK, pp. 211-233.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2005, Watched over by the indefatigable Moravian missionaries: colonialism and photography at Ebenezer and Ramahyuck, The La Trobe Journal, vol 76, issue Spring, State Library of Victoria Foundation, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 27-48.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2004, A strange time machine: The Tracker, Black and White, and Rabbit-Proof Fence, Australian Historical Studies, vol 35, issue 123, University of Melbourne, Department of History, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 137-148.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2003, The experimental 1860s: Charles Walter's images of Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, Victoria, Aboriginal History, vol 26, Aboriginal History Inc., Canberra ACT Australia, pp. 78-130.

Conference Proceedings

Lydon, J., 2002, 'Archaeology in the Workplace: teaching heritage in a changing world', Borders, Boundaries, Barriers: Proceedings of the 2001 Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference, S.Ulm, C.Westcott.

Lydon, J., 2002, 'Historical archaeology, cultural exchange and the Chinese in the Rocks, 1890-1930', Chinese in Oceania, Association for the Study of the Chinese and their Descendants in Australiasia and the Pacific Islands, the Chinese Museum and the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies, Victoria University, pp. 7-20.

Lydon, J., 2001, 'The Chinese community in the Rocks area of Sydney: cultural persistence and exchange', The Overseas Chinese in Australia: History, Settlement and Interactions, National Taiwan University and the centre for the Chinese Souther Diaspora, ANU Canberra ACT Australia.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2000, 'The disturbing history of Sydney's Rocks, the "birthplace of a nation", World Archaeological Bulletin, pp. 94-109.

Other

Lydon, E.C.J., 2012, I'm a man!, Arena Magazine, vol other, issue 118, Arena Printing and Publications Pty. Ltd., North Carlton, Australia, pp. 48-51.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2012, Observing the Observer. Review: Martin Thomas, The Many Worlds of R.H.Mathews, History Australia: journal of the Australian Historical Association, vol 9, issue 1, Monash University ePress, Australia, pp. 241-242.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2012, Photography and the Civil Rights Movement: For All the World to See, Imprisoned in a Luminous Glare, Signs of the Times: The Visual Politics of Jim Crow, History of Photography, vol 36, issue 2, Routledge, UK, pp. 225-228.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2011, The People of the Paroo River: Frederic Bonneya's photographs eannette Hope and Robert Lindsay 2010, Australian Aboriginal Studies, vol journal, Aboriginal Studies Press, Australia, pp. 112-114.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2006, An Anthropologist in Papua: The Photography of FE Williams 1922-39, Oceania, vol 76, issue 3, Oceania Publications, University of Sydney, pp. 319-320.

Lydon, E.C.J., 2006, Give, M (2004) The Archaeology of the Colonized, Routledge, London, Australasian Historical Archaeology, vol 24, Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 115-116.

Grants

Title:
Aboriginal Visual Histories in the State Library of Victoria: Photographing Indigenous Australians.
Investigators:
Lydon, E
Funding:
(2008 - 2012). State Library of Victoria.
Title:
Aboriginal Visual Histories: Photographing Indigenous Australians.
Investigators:
Lydon, E, Russell, L
Funding:
(2008 - 2012). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
Globalization, Photography, and Race: the Circulation and Return of Aboriginal Photographs in Europe.
Investigators:
Lydon, E, Herle, A, Morton, C, Veys, F
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
Colonial Encounters: Archaeology at Ebenezer Mission, north-western Victoria.
Investigators:
Lydon, E
Funding:
(2003 - 2007). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2003 - 2009). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
Recognising Aborigines: From Objects of Science to First Australians.
Investigators:
Lydon, E
Funding:
(2010 - 2014). Australian Research Council (ARC).

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Nineteenth century Aboriginal mission churches in Victoria: an interpretation of church ruins and their significance to twenty first century Aboriginal communities.
Supervisors:
Mcniven, I (Main), Lydon, J (Associate).